


Minus Seventy-Five

by Skaldic



Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Implied Future Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-20 11:25:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6004149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skaldic/pseuds/Skaldic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Quick Pepperony "last words" ficlet. The last thing Tony would say to Pepper.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Minus Seventy-Five

This wasn’t how he’d pictured it. When the thought weighed on Tony, when he bothered to think about it at all, he’d always wanted, hoped, _prayed_ , that she wouldn’t be there, that she’d be safe and far enough away that he wouldn’t be worried about _after_. After did no good when the world was tearing itself apart from the inside out and the only way to stop it was to give in, give up, make a mistake.  
  
"I’m sorry. I— I know, I say that a lot. But I mean it this time, so I think it carries a _little_ more weight than when I say it just to make you stop yelling at me.”  
  
"Tony…"  
  
God, he hated that waver in her voice, and he hated himself even more for putting it there. He turned to face Pepper, the suit wrapped tight around him, his helmet under his arm. Add a smile and it’d be a photo op, but there wasn’t much to smile about. “You didn’t sign up for this. I know that. I _know_ —”  
  
And she was there, just there, staring up at him, a tiny frown between her eyebrows. Her hand raised to touch his face, the soft pad of her index finger running down the bridge of his nose. “I did, actually,” she corrected him. “Sign up for this. You think I don’t know the risks? Just because I can’t tell you how bad the odds are in percentages—”  
  
"Minus seventy-five."  
  
"Tony."  
  
He pulled her close, releasing a sharp breath as he ducked down to press his face into the fall of her hair. “Sorry, sorry. I’m just… I’m gonna die and—”  
  
"And I wasn’t supposed to be here for it," she finished, bleak and knowing. "Is… Is it really that bad?"  
  
"Worse." Pulling back, a thick aching knot in his throat, he drank in her blotched, wrung out features. She’d been crying, he realized. Pepper wasn’t a pretty crier. He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, careful. "I love you." Unlike _I’m sorry_ , he didn’t say that nearly enough, could clearly count on one hand the exact amount of times he had said it in the last two years. “It scares me sometimes, how much. I should have said it more.”  
  
"You didn’t have to; I knew." Her smile was watery. "You’re not very subtle."  
  
He laughed, a quick, grating burst of noise and bussed her forehead, then drifted down to kiss her lips hard. Finally, he pulled away and yanked his helmet on. The HUD flickered online, bathing the world in a cold, blue glow. A thought and the blue swept aside, replaced by red. “I gotta go.”  
  
Pepper swallowed, her arms wrapped around herself. She looked so small standing there. “I love you, too, you know.”  
  
Tony started walking away, but paused long enough to turn around and point at her. “Knew that.” Then he took to the air, streaking toward his next, last adventure. Quietly, to himself, he said, “Don’t wait up for me, honey.”

 


End file.
